Joe's
Encyclopedia
G.I. Joe's was a privately owned sporting goods, ready-to-wear
clothing, and auto parts retail dealer operating in the Northwestern United States
. Founded in 1952, the company had as many as 31 stores, located in Oregon
, Washington and Idaho
. It was based in Wilsonville, Oregon
. In 2007, the company changed its name to Joe’s. In 2009, it filed for bankruptcy
and was liquidated
.
sleeping bags and then set up a tent in Portland, Oregon
, to sell them to the public. Orkney sold out of the sleeping bags and then started selling other army surplus merchandise in a store that then doubled in size by 1956, making it Portland's largest retailer of sporting goods and outdoor gear.
During the 1960s, Orkney transitioned the company away from military surplus and towards an eclectic combination of sporting goods, automotive parts, and hardware; the 1970s saw the company become a chain within the Portland metropolitan area
, with its line of merchandise expanding to include housewares, lawn and garden supplies, and apparel. In 1976, Orkney died and his son, David Orkney, took over the business. A distribution center was built in 1979 in Wilsonville, with that facility expanded in 1986. G.I. Joe's opened its eighth store, located in Eugene, Oregon
, in 1983. At the time, the company also operated 16 The Jean Machine stores, and the two chains had combined annual revenue of $68 million in 1982.
In 1991 the chain expanded to the Seattle market and had increased to 14 stores with revenue of $135 million; the next year David Orkney stepped down as the chief executive officer
and longtime-employee Norm Daniels assumed the role. The new Seattle store was about the same size as the Portland area stores, but re-focused on two product lines: automotive parts and sporting goods. In 1998, the company made plans to go public by issuing an initial public offering
(IPO) of stock to the general public. The plan was to use the cash from the sale of shares to fund an expansion program in order to become more of a regional chain. The company even filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in late 1998 for an IPO, but the next year the plan was withdrawn when the expected price per share
was not as high as had been hoped for by the company.
By 2000, revenue had increased to $161 million from 17 stores, making G.I. Joe's the 12th largest sporting goods retailer in the United States, and largest in the Pacific Northwest. It was also the 142nd largest retailer overall in the United States
by revenue in 2000.
deal that was later reported to be for about $50 million.
In March 2007, the newly acquired company announced that it was dropping the "G. I." from its name to become simply Joe's in order to better reflect its product line, which had not included military surplus in many years. The name change took effect on April 1, 2007. Also that year, the company opened its 28th store, and first in Idaho with a store in Meridian
, and announced plans to build a new distribution center at its headquarters in Wilsonville
. The company was a regular presenting sponsor of the annual C.A.R.T.
race in Portland before the event ended after the 2007 race. In January 2008, Hal Smith replaced Norm Daniels as the company’s CEO.
The company hit a high of $274 million in revenue for the sales year ending in 2008.
On March 4, 2009, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization with hopes of selling the company. Although the company had hoped "that some portion of the business could survive", "insufficient sources of capital" meant that the company had to accept a bid from a liquidator, Gordon Brothers
. The company began liquidation sales on April 10, 2009, and all stores were closed by the end of May with 1600 employees laid off.
In June 2009, a general contractor for Dick's Sporting Goods
announced it would begin renovating the former Joe's location in Hillsboro, Oregon
, into what will be the second Dick's Sporting Goods in the state. Dick's later took over five other former Joe's locations in Oregon, and along with the Hillsboro site, all had been part of the plan by the former managers to resurrect a small part of the company. Another Joe's in Meridian, Idaho
was acquired by Dick's in January 2010 for a March opening.
Some former managers attempted to re-start G.I. Joe's in six former Joe's stores located in Bend, Salem, Eugene, and three in the Portland area, but the plan fell apart in July 2009. In January 2010, former Joe's executives established a small storefront in a Bethany, Oregon
, strip mall in an attempt to start a new version of the old company, but using the original G.I. Joe's moniker. Within six months, the attempt had failed after the former executives, a group that included the son of the G.I. Joe's founder Edward Orkney, were sued for trademark infringement by UFA Holdings
, the company that had acquired the right to the name and related trademarks such as "Seize the Weekend". The former executives had thought they had legal standing
since the UFA wasn't actively using the name.
, was acquired by the company for $5.4 million.
The online presence was operated by GSI Commerce
, and was sold to Canada-based UFA Co-operative Limited
. As of June 2010, UFA uses the domains it acquired to redirect traffic to a website for its U.S. sporting goods business.
Ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items which are not clothing.Ready-to-wear has...
clothing, and auto parts retail dealer operating in the Northwestern United States
Northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, to which part of southeast Alaska is also sometimes included...
. Founded in 1952, the company had as many as 31 stores, located in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Washington and Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
. It was based in Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
. In 2007, the company changed its name to Joe’s. In 2009, it filed for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and was liquidated
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
.
20th century history
G.I. Joe’s began in 1952 when Edward Orkney purchased army surplusMilitary surplus
Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Military surplus rarely includes weapons or munitions, though they are occasionally found in such stores...
sleeping bags and then set up a tent in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, to sell them to the public. Orkney sold out of the sleeping bags and then started selling other army surplus merchandise in a store that then doubled in size by 1956, making it Portland's largest retailer of sporting goods and outdoor gear.
During the 1960s, Orkney transitioned the company away from military surplus and towards an eclectic combination of sporting goods, automotive parts, and hardware; the 1970s saw the company become a chain within the Portland metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...
, with its line of merchandise expanding to include housewares, lawn and garden supplies, and apparel. In 1976, Orkney died and his son, David Orkney, took over the business. A distribution center was built in 1979 in Wilsonville, with that facility expanded in 1986. G.I. Joe's opened its eighth store, located in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, in 1983. At the time, the company also operated 16 The Jean Machine stores, and the two chains had combined annual revenue of $68 million in 1982.
In 1991 the chain expanded to the Seattle market and had increased to 14 stores with revenue of $135 million; the next year David Orkney stepped down as the chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
and longtime-employee Norm Daniels assumed the role. The new Seattle store was about the same size as the Portland area stores, but re-focused on two product lines: automotive parts and sporting goods. In 1998, the company made plans to go public by issuing an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
(IPO) of stock to the general public. The plan was to use the cash from the sale of shares to fund an expansion program in order to become more of a regional chain. The company even filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in late 1998 for an IPO, but the next year the plan was withdrawn when the expected price per share
Share price
A share price is the price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks of a company. Once the stock is purchased, the owner becomes a shareholder of the company that issued the share.-Behavior of share prices:...
was not as high as had been hoped for by the company.
By 2000, revenue had increased to $161 million from 17 stores, making G.I. Joe's the 12th largest sporting goods retailer in the United States, and largest in the Pacific Northwest. It was also the 142nd largest retailer overall in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by revenue in 2000.
G.I. Joe's becomes Joe's
On February 5, 2007, G.I. Joe's was sold to Gryphon Investors in a private equityPrivate equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
deal that was later reported to be for about $50 million.
In March 2007, the newly acquired company announced that it was dropping the "G. I." from its name to become simply Joe's in order to better reflect its product line, which had not included military surplus in many years. The name change took effect on April 1, 2007. Also that year, the company opened its 28th store, and first in Idaho with a store in Meridian
Meridian, Idaho
-History:The town was established in 1891 on the Onweiler farm north of the present site and was called Hunter. Two years later an I.O.O.F. lodge was organized and called itself Meridian because it was located on the Boise Meridian and the town was renamed...
, and announced plans to build a new distribution center at its headquarters in Wilsonville
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
. The company was a regular presenting sponsor of the annual C.A.R.T.
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
race in Portland before the event ended after the 2007 race. In January 2008, Hal Smith replaced Norm Daniels as the company’s CEO.
The company hit a high of $274 million in revenue for the sales year ending in 2008.
Demise
December 2008 sales dropped off by 10% partly due to winter snowstorms in the Northwest that paralyzed major cities as Christmas approached. Joe's then fell into violation of several loan covenants with its main lenders. Despite some efforts by the owners to infuse capital into the company, the lenders declined to restructure the loans and loan more money to Joe's.On March 4, 2009, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization with hopes of selling the company. Although the company had hoped "that some portion of the business could survive", "insufficient sources of capital" meant that the company had to accept a bid from a liquidator, Gordon Brothers
Gordon Brothers Group
Gordon Brothers Group, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, is a liquidation firm that was founded in 1903 by Jacob Bernard, Louis and Joseph Gordon....
. The company began liquidation sales on April 10, 2009, and all stores were closed by the end of May with 1600 employees laid off.
In June 2009, a general contractor for Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. , or Dick's, is a Fortune 500 American corporation in the sporting goods and retail industries.The company's headquarters are on the grounds of Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay Township near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dick's has 451 stores in 42 states as of...
announced it would begin renovating the former Joe's location in Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
, into what will be the second Dick's Sporting Goods in the state. Dick's later took over five other former Joe's locations in Oregon, and along with the Hillsboro site, all had been part of the plan by the former managers to resurrect a small part of the company. Another Joe's in Meridian, Idaho
Meridian, Idaho
-History:The town was established in 1891 on the Onweiler farm north of the present site and was called Hunter. Two years later an I.O.O.F. lodge was organized and called itself Meridian because it was located on the Boise Meridian and the town was renamed...
was acquired by Dick's in January 2010 for a March opening.
Some former managers attempted to re-start G.I. Joe's in six former Joe's stores located in Bend, Salem, Eugene, and three in the Portland area, but the plan fell apart in July 2009. In January 2010, former Joe's executives established a small storefront in a Bethany, Oregon
Bethany, Oregon
Bethany is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Oregon, United States. It is situated north of U.S. Route 26 near Beaverton, about four miles northwest of Cedar Mill, and is within the Portland metropolitan area...
, strip mall in an attempt to start a new version of the old company, but using the original G.I. Joe's moniker. Within six months, the attempt had failed after the former executives, a group that included the son of the G.I. Joe's founder Edward Orkney, were sued for trademark infringement by UFA Holdings
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta is an association of Alberta farmers that has served many different roles throughout its history as a lobby group, a political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. Since 1934 it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary...
, the company that had acquired the right to the name and related trademarks such as "Seize the Weekend". The former executives had thought they had legal standing
Standing (law)
In law, standing or locus standi is the term for the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case...
since the UFA wasn't actively using the name.
Website
In addition to the retail stores, G.I. Joe's operated an online subsidiary called Joe’s Direct. Joe's Direct was created in late 1998 when Timberline Direct, a catalog and electronic commerce firm based in Hillsboro, OregonHillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
, was acquired by the company for $5.4 million.
The online presence was operated by GSI Commerce
GSI Commerce
GSI Commerce is an eBay company specializing in creating, developing and running online shopping sites for brick and mortar brands and retailers....
, and was sold to Canada-based UFA Co-operative Limited
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta is an association of Alberta farmers that has served many different roles throughout its history as a lobby group, a political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. Since 1934 it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary...
. As of June 2010, UFA uses the domains it acquired to redirect traffic to a website for its U.S. sporting goods business.